RANGPUR — A resolution signed by the administrator of Annadanagar union in Rangpur’s Pirgachha upazila allocated 377 cards under the Vulnerable Group Feeding program to himself and 1,200 cards to “party notables,” prompting impoverished families who were excluded to surround the union council in protest.
Excluded families surrounded the union parishad around 10 a.m. on Sunday, March 15, demanding cards.
A copy of the resolution, signed March 5 by Annadanagar union administrator Bijoy Kumar Roy, surfaced on Saturday evening. After images of the resolution spread on Facebook, the matter drew questions from civic groups in the area.
The resolution showed that the union’s total allocation of 4,797 VGF cards had been distributed among various categories. Of those, 377 were earmarked for the union administrator and 1,200 for “party notables.”
The document also set specific allocations by ward: 270 cards each for wards 1 and 2; 275 for ward 3; 230 each for wards 4 and 5; 290 for ward 6; 270 each for wards 7 and 8; and 290 for ward 9. The three reserved female members of the union parishad were each allocated 275 cards.
The VGF program is a government social safety-net scheme intended primarily for poor, vulnerable and low-income people. Under government guidelines, cards are to be distributed to people identified as genuinely poor through lists prepared by committees formed at the union level.
Upazila administration sources said the upazila has been allocated a total of 48,397 VGF cards against 483.970 metric tons of rice. Of those, 4,036 went to Kalyani union, 5,986 to Parul union, 4,086 to Itakumari union, 4,797 to Annadanagar union, 6,386 to Chhaola union, 6,386 to Tambulpur union, 7,098 to Pirgachha union, 5,286 to Koikuri union and 4,036 to Kandi union.
After the resolution spread on social media, residents asked how such a decision could be made on the distribution of cards intended for poor people and whether the genuine beneficiaries were receiving the aid.
Local residents said government policy does not permit reserving cards for any individual or for “party notables,” and that such a resolution would conflict with the rules. After the matter became public, excluded families surrounded the union parishad around 10:30 a.m. on Sunday demanding cards.
They dispersed after receiving assurances from Altaf Hossain, the upazila project implementation officer. When local journalists arrived at the scene, Jillur Rahman, president of the Annadanagar union BNP, became angry and behaved discourteously toward and threatened a local journalist named Harun Or Rashid Babu.
Contacted about the allocations described in the resolution, Bijoy Kumar Roy, the Annadanagar union administrator, said: “It does not matter through whom the cards are distributed. We are working to ensure everyone receives a card correctly.”
Altaf Hossain, the Pirgachha upazila project implementation officer, said: “We allocate at the union level. The list of beneficiaries is then prepared and the cards are distributed by the union committee. I am not aware of any such matter.”
Debashish Basak, the upazila nirbahi officer (UNO) of Pirgachha, said: “VGF rice must be distributed among the destitute and the poor. There is no scope to divide it in this way for personal or other purposes. After learning of the matter, the administrator has been directed to convene the meeting again and to identify beneficiaries in accordance with the rules.”
বাংলায় মূল প্রতিবেদন পড়ুন · Read the original Bengali report